The Supernatural hunter-turned-evil thing will party up it when the CW series returns this fall (on Tuesday, Oct. 7), so much so that even the King of Hell won’t be able to handle Dean’s new demonic playboy ways, star Jensen Ackles tells TVLine.

With Dean embracing his new life like an addict looking for the ultimate high, the actor reveals that his onscreen alter ego will go out of his way to make sure his brother Sam doesn’t lead him back back to a simple, human existence.

Below, Ackles also discusses directing himself, singing on the show and keeping his performance fresh after nine seasons of being Dean.

TVLINE | Going into Season 10, what surprised you about Dean’s journey in the upcoming episodes?
Well, we have a slightly different version of Dean. A little bit of time has passed [at the start of Season 10], and he is a demon version of himself, out running amok with Crowley. It’s interesting because, over the past nine years, Dean has always been kind of a constant. Sam has really been the one that’s been possessed or [had] the demon blood or [been] soulless. There’s been a lot of different variations on the character of Sam, but Dean’s always been the steady, the constant. So to have that now change, and Dean is now an alternate version of himself, is exciting. It’s challenging, and it adds a unique element to the beginning of the season that we haven’t seen before.

TVLINE | What was the most challenging aspect of trying to incorporate a demon into Dean while still keeping him Dean?
Just that. [Laughs] Exactly what you said. That was the challenging aspect. It’s not like a demon that overtook Dean’s meat suit. This is the same guy with a twisted soul. So I wanted to keep Dean alive in there, but I had to make an exaggerated version of him, and that was challenging. This is a character that I’ve played for nine years. To tailor that into something different, it’s hard not to fall back into your same routine.

TVLINE | Did this storyline make you feel like you were going to the new season reinvigorated?
Oh, I was super excited when I read the season finale last season. “Oh, sweet! We haven’t done this before.” I was excited to see where we were going to pick up, where he was going to go, how bad he was going to be. It’s fun because he ends up being too much for Crowley to handle, so to speak.

TVLINE | What qualities does being a demon bring out in Dean? Does it magnify any of the aspects of him that we’ve seen already?
Oh, it’s like an ultra version of a womanizing party animal. He’s out partying in Vegas with the King of Hell, he’s got backstage passes and he doesn’t give a sh-t about anything. That’s essentially what we’re going to see.

TVLINE | What effect does that have on his relationship with Sam?
Sam can’t find him because he doesn’t want to be found. Because [Dean is] having fun and he knows that if Sam finds him, he’s going to do his best to reverse the demon in him. But he’s like, “I’ve got the golden ticket.” This might be a little heavy, but it made me think about heroin addicts. To them, they found the magic key. They found the recipe to happiness. People are like, “You can’t do this. This is going to ruin your life,” and they’re like, “Screw you! This makes me feel amazing. I’m going to do this. You’re the one that’s an idiot. This is the best stuff ever.” And… everyone else is watching this steady decline of this person. That’s kind of demon Dean.

TVLINE | So it’s safe to say that when Dean wakes up and realizes what he is, he embraces it? Or is it more, off the bat, he’s a little bit conflicted and then eventually he starts to enjoy it?
Oh, no, he embraces it very quickly. There’s no inner struggle. Because he’s not just a demon, he’s a demon with the Mark of Cain, which makes him like über demon. So there’s so much evil inside him, there’s so much devil inside him, that the practical Dean is smothered.

TVLINE | You have a big episode coming up, the 200th. [Executive producer] Jeremy [Carver] said some music is involved. Are you going to sing in the episode?
I have not read the 200th episode. I read [Episodes] 1, 2 and 3 because 3 was the one I was directing, and that was enough for my brain to process.

TVLINE | We know you can sing. Would you be up for singing on the show?
Yeah, but Dean can’t sing. [Laughs]

TVLINE | I guess, but it’s meta. So it could be Jensen singing. It could be like the sixth season episode “The French Mistake.”
It could be. This is true. It could be. You never know with this show.

TVLINE | Tell me a little bit about the episode you’re directing. Did they throw anything new at you?
Yeah, demon Dean. I had to introduce a new character. We shot this episode first so that I could prep without having to work on another episode. It’ll air third, but it’s the first time that I had to play demon Dean. So that was a bit of a curveball, trying to direct and introduce a new character, a new version of Dean that we’ve never seen before. That was a big challenge to grapple with.

People always seem to forget that Supernatural thrives on camp and cheese. There are so many episodes of this show that are just so campy you have no idea how it’s made it this long (cartoon episode? Talking dog?). Supernatural has always walked the line when it came to “shark jumping” but they always do it well.

You have seen the episode ‘Monster Movie’ right? Or maybe ‘Changing Channels’ or, well, any of the episodes with Gabriel in it? A musical shouldn’t be very surprising, anything can happen in this show. I like to think of it as a hint to what Gabriel might be making them do next, like a sappy musical where Sam can talk to Dean to try and knock some sense into him :)

I don’t think so. Fans have been enthusiastically asking for a musical episode for ages. Buffy did a fantastic one (and it’s probably the most well loved ep of a very well loved series) and SPN could do something really neat, as well. Jensen has an incredible voice, Misha’s sorta adorably off tune and Jared… well, bless him, he tries. I think it’ll be a super fun episode in a pretty dark season.

The new season sounds pretty interesting. There are a few ways that this could become complicated… like if by curing Dean, they have to complete the trials from season 8. There’s also the matter of what happens to the mark once Dean is cured. Is this something that will stay with him forever and he will have to be careful with, or is it something that he will transfer to someone else?
People say that the show keeps doing the same thing over and over, but I disagree. The demon blood arc wasn’t the same as the soulless Sam arc. Dean going to Purgatory had a different outcome than his going to Hell. As long as they are simply using these setups to tell different stories, I’m happy with the show.
That said, I hope that this demon-centric season is used to tie up the Crowley/Hell loose ends and end them once and for all. Crowley has been around for too long. Much like the angel arc, I think that the best thing for the series going forward would be to end it and find a new direction for season 11. Remember, in the early seasons we didn’t have angels at all and demons were rare. I’d like to see them get back to that, just because I think that if you keep these things around too long, it takes away their edge.

Trials won’t help Dean he is not a smoking out Demon like crowley and other demons so you can put that baby to rest. The only way to cure dean is to get the mark of cain off him that is what turned his soul. But you take the mark off then will Dean die? Dean wanted to die so its what extremes will sam go to save his brother from dying again.

It wouldn’t have to be the same method of curing a demon. The requirement simply says that Sam would have to cure a demon… Any kind of demon. The question is why he would say the words that complete the trial. Maybe closing the gates of Hell would help Dean manage the mark.
It probably won’t happen, but it could be an interesting way to resolve this arc.

Sounds to me like Sam is going to go through the men of letters books for a cure for the mark. Be nice if he would just be able to talk to Cain himself since he is a demon and can’t die. What cain is; is what Dean is now. That is why Cain wanted Dean to kill him. I get the feeling the thing that can kill demon dean and cain is the blade. But cain was able to hide and have a life with a wife. I get the feeling it will be up to Dean if and when he wants to get rid of the mark or be cured and wondering if Cas will be able to heal the angel blade that went through dean so he won’t die. So we will have to find cas’s grace to save dean also. I doubt they will bring the trials back with the spoilers sam is doing things that is going to do things to find and save Dean that will have Dean thinking why did you come looking for me. So doubt that sounds like they are going towards the trials sammy is going to go down some dark paths to save dean if they had to bring trials back think that would have been noted.

Jeremy Carver came back to the show with a multi-year plan. That leads me to believe that the trials could come up again, because they were established for a reason.
Either way, it should be interesting to see how Dean is fixed and how the mark is dealt with.

It’s not the last season. I imagine that we will know well in advance when the last season is upon us, but right now everyone involved is saying that they could go on for years. From the actors, to the writers, to the network, nobody has said anything about the end of the show. So season 11 is pretty much a given at this point.

I agree completely. In the beginning of the show things were much simpler, and much more interesting. Do not get me wrong, Ive been overal pleased with the past plots Supernatual throws out for fans, despite the Metatron character. However, we have seen Sam and Dean die multiple times, and one or the other seems to always go down under. After Season 10 wraps up, if they are to continue, the entire storyline should change, or Season 10 should just be an Epic Series Finale.

The thing is I don’t think demon!Dean is gonna do anything truly horrible. I know he called demon!Dean an a-hole but he also said that when he goes back to being normal!dean, he’ll more likely have a problem with Sam’s actions rather than his own (or something like that). Like Jensen said, “it’s like an ultra version of a womanizing party animal”, which isn’t so bad in my opinion, mostly because I’m 95% sure it’s temporary.

I don’t see Demon Dean as being truly horrible or sadistic. He’s past all that, went throught that. I see him having too much fun screwing around, not doing what he may be told by Crowley, breaking “rules”, doing all sorts of sinful things to his delight! (and ours)

I thought he said that there would be a struggle in other interviews? Maybe I misunderstood and the struggle was with Jensen, how he would play the character.

Not surprising about Dean running away from Sam if he doesn’t want to be human again. To read that he’s indeed evil now always breaks my heart. I’m so sorry, Dean. I know it’s not what you would have chosen if it was indeed up to you.

Demon Dean sounds AWESOME! Can’t wait to see him and I think it will be a blast watching Crowley try to reel him in! I hope Jensen gets to really sing in the musical ep and I hope the SPN musical is as good as the Buffy musical which I loved! Can’t wait for Cas and Sam to find out Dean is a demon! October is too far away – I want the show to come back now!

I watched a video interview with Jensen where he said that, while Dean is usually slightly chivalrous with his womanizing, demon!Dean is an asshole – so I’m looking forward to that, just to see how different and dark he is. Wouldn’t surprise me if he fridges a one-night stand or two – we all know demons are promiscuous AND violent, so hopefully Sam and Cas can save him before he goes too far down that path.

Yeah, I saw that, too – he said something like “there’s none of that with demon Dean, he’s an asshole.” And my first thoguht when I saw that he has an “intense fling” in the second episode was “oh, he’s totally gonna kill her.” Ten bucks says I’m right. I’m just glad Carver said yesterday that they don’t plan on having anyone in a longterm romantic relationship on the show, because.. if I wanted that, I’d watch Grey’s Anatomy or something. Romance throws off the dynamic between the three main guys and no one wants that.

I’d say that most people don’t want to see more non-consensual sexual situations and more women fridged/dead for no good reason. I’m sick to death of it, personally. I just *love* how actually healthy romantic relationships would “ruin the show” but having dubious sex and killing women is a-okay and quality entertainment. The vast majority of the SPN fanbase are women, queer and largely liberal (casual viewers might skew differently, but the dedicated fanbase is as stated above)… and many don’t like how women are treated or how sex has been handled lately on SPN. I really hope I don’t have to wince my way through episodes this season.

Just hoping he isn’t separated from Sam and Cas for TOO long – even if he’s still a demon, I miss the Team Free Will dynamic and I definitely watch for those three. ;) That being said, i can’t wait to see Dean as a demon.

Dean can’t kill people. This isn’t The Vampire Diaries where death is meaningless and we are supposed to cheer on rapists and murderers. If Dean murders someone, there is no coming back for him. They can’t just shrug that off and have him go back to normal.
I think it could reach a point where he comes close to killing someone, and Crowley is urging him to… But that is the point where whatever hint of normal Dean that remains would come through.

It wouldn’t be the first time Dean has killed people, and it won’t be the last. It wouldn’t surprise me if he knocks off a few people while he’s a demon, because it will give him a LOT to angst over when he’s inevitably changed back. That definitely seems like something the writers would do, because we all know they love when Dean has things to angst and agonize over.

They’ve killed people who were possessed by demons, and maybe the occasional bad human. But to murder someone just for fun would be something else entirely. This is not something that the writers should do unless they are prepared for a very dark path for Dean, Not simply “Dean feels sorry about murdering people”… like I said, this isn’t The Vampire Diaries, where they rape and murder people and then turn around and go to a frat party and brood over which rapist/murderer they’re supposed to spend their eternal life with. This is something that would drag Dean down for the rest of his life… assuming that he didn’t just find a way to end his life once and for all.

Jensen said it comes to a point where Crowley can’t handle Dean, so I’m pretty sure that won’t happen. What I do think, though, is that either the issue won’t come up, or it will and he’ll do it, and then when (if?) he comes back to normal, that’d be something he’d have to angst about.

I’m surprised that Dean quickly embraces being a demon. It’s actually the non-human species he despises above all the others, the “belly to the ground, supernatural piece of crap”. I guess I have to stop thinking of him as Human Dean. Since that’s no longer who he is, his emotions and outlook on life have probably changed.

Sounds as though you are excited about demon dean. I assume then, you are not worried about losing fan base. Do you think he will ever be “regular” Dean again? How does he become a demon, but not a demon wearing a Dean meatsuit?

I am looking forward to seeing what I know has always been jensen’s ability, to do things he loves and make him reach within himself to be one of the better actors to hit the screen. Like I told him once, they didn’t make guys like him in my day.
Looking forward to seeing all the supernatural cast, it’s been a long time coming.

Thank you, Jensen!!! Loved this interview. S10 sounds great coming from this man. So happy to see that the writing on this show is finally allowing him to stretch his acting wings in this way. It’s about time.

When I saw the ending to last season, I was literally yelling at my computer, NOOOOO WAY! Oh, no they didn’t!!!!! I am so excited for this new season.
I think they need to push the envelope a little, though.

I agree about the crowley thing. I was so upset when bobby died, but I guess it was necessary for the story :(…. so they have to make the same sacrifice.
Even though we are not even close yet, I wonder what season 11 is going to be about.
S9 blew my mind, sam was so good possessed by an angel.

Hell yeah! I m already loving Demon Dean. Its time for Dean to loosen up. He has always been taking Care of Sammy. And I get it! But as Dean himself said it during the last episode of Season 9, “Hells Not Complicated. Hells problem is you(referring to Crowley).” Therfore, ROCK on Handsome Demon Dean !

I was so upset to see that Dean was going to be a demon, but after reading this interview and how Jensen is so excited about this new twist, I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes. Jensen is a brilliant actor and has amazing comic timing so I’m sure it will be very entertaining.

So basically dean will be the fratboy tool we were all scared they would turn him into? I think my libido just strangled itself. If you hadn’t lost enough viewers, I think this one just killed it. That is valuable screentime you’re wasting.

My question to all you is over all dean becoming a demon do you guys think they’ll bring back adam Milligan read online and they say he’s making an appearance in the upcoming season but to all you should adam come back ?

Ok, so Dean is a demon – as if he wasn’t already a monster for his murderous ways. The only difference now is that there is no filter. He can be the anime smut watching, slasher of a horn dog, boozer that he is naturally without the fake boy scout investigation badge. He’s literally Dean on steroids! We will see something new, I think they’re going to finally bring out the Big Gun!

Its still my favourite show on TV. Im glad its changing direction from the angels as I think its been done now. I love the monster eps & my all time fav is Yellow Fever. Jensen you rock. I hope the show keeps evolving so you never get bored & keep making a fantastic show xx

This is sounding AMAZING – I know a lot of fans on Tumblr want Dean to be really compromised with his situation but I think it’s time Dean had some good, moral-less fun. (I’ve started a fanfic with what I want to happen with the main storyline and this sounds like it’ll have the kind of plot I was hoping for!) VERY EXCITED!!

I think I got a little too excited about the Dean/demon thing. In the last five minutes of the season finale, I had a grand-mal seizure! Never had one before, either.
Anyway, I’m surprised that with the mark of Cain, Dean wouldn’t have a strong urge to kill his brother, as Cain killed Able. Wouldn’t that be part of the curse the Mark carries?